A Death in Memphis

This week another mother is weeping. Another child will not know his father as he grows. Another city is troubled by the actions of some members of its police force. The actions of rouge police officers taint good police officers everywhere.

In 2022, gunfire killed 64 officers according to an article in USA Today. Seventy others died from COVID and 56 others were killed in various car or truck crashes. There are far too many guns in this country and police should be concerned about guns being pulled on them in certain circumstances, but not always.

But we still need to ask questions, as statistics show that over 1000 people are killed annually by police officers from the over 18,000 police units in this country. That averages out to over three deaths a day and officials claim that not all are reported. Do we need to ask more questions? Do we need more training for law enforcement? Could they have prevented any of the deaths? Were crimes involved or were there mental health issues in play? Was de-escalation attempted in those instances?  

Law enforcement officers used to be called peace officers and were seen as “Officer Friendly” in schools or public safety classes teaching crossing at the crosswalk and other traffic rules. Now they are dealing with drugs in schools, carrying Narcan for overdoses, and hunting down ghost guns, so I know times have indeed changed. But I guess we need a balance, somehow.

This brings me back to the horrific murder in Memphis. Thankfully, there were some officer body cameras in use; other stationary cameras captured the events from overhead. Not all involved had their body cameras on.

Where do we go from here? How do we address the death of a young Black man, an employed worker, skilled photographer, father of a toddler, and skateboarder driving in his neighborhood and minding his own business? A death that was at the hands of a unit of five Black officers in a special anti-crime unit?

First, we need to realize that the initial police reports were not truthful. I did not watch the videos, not any of them, but I have read reports of the discrepancies between what the police were saying for the record; (they started the coverup even before the ambulance arrived), and the events shown by the cameras.

The cameras showed officers out of control. They demonstrated that not one police officer tried to stop these unlawful actions. Even the police chief agreed that the excuse of “reckless driving”, which was ostensibly used for the traffic stop, was untrue. The police, were at no time, in any danger from Tyre Nichols. He was polite, he complied with their instructions until they lost their self-control and started to assault him. He then tried to run toward his mother’s nearby home, but the team caught him and knocked him down. He, as the videos presented, was beaten, pepper sprayed, tasered, hit with batons multiple times, and kicked over the space of several minutes. Once he could no longer move purposefully and kept falling over, while complaining of chest pain and calling for his mother, the ambulance was called.

The photos from the hospital showed Nichols unconscious, with a battered and swollen face, and intubated to help him breathe. Physicians said his death two days later, was from internal bleeding.

The authorities fired the officers involved and later charged them all with murder. In general, the public should expect accountability; we shall see. As of now, all these special crime units known as SCORPION in the city have been disbanded.

What kind of training did these units receive? Most involved were young and had not been on the force for a long time, a contrast from what one might expect from a supposed elite force. Are special units screened for coping with extraordinary circumstances? There were several of these units in Memphis assigned to high-crime areas; officials staggered their terms of duty to give monthly breaks between assignments.

The New York Times ran an extensive investigation on Traffic Stops that led to deaths. This is an excerpt from that article:

“In case after case, officers said they had feared for their lives. And in case after case, prosecutors declared the killings of unarmed motorists legally justifiable. But The Times reviewed video and audio recordings, prosecutor statements, and court documents, finding patterns of questionable police conduct that went beyond recent high-profile deaths of unarmed drivers. Evidence often contradicted the accounts of law enforcement officers.”

As long as counties and cities get revenue from traffic tickets, there will be traffic stops, I guess. But should traffic stops lead to deaths? Some have suggested that there be specific traffic cops who write tickets and don’t carry arms or create confrontations. In a gentler world that might work. I know that in European countries, traffic stops don’t lead to deaths. I don’t have answers, but I know that too many drivers innocently running errands get killed.

As a white woman, I would expect that Black officers would be more understanding to Black residents, but commentators this week say this is untrue. Some claim that once on the force, even Black officers adopt the departmental attitude of ‘them against us’ and see the blue uniforms as their work families. Others said that Black officers are tougher on members of their community.

James Baldwin wrote an article in The Nation about a man who questioned police who were beating a bunch of kids. They then beat him so badly that he lost an eye. He discusses the issue of police brutality as he saw it in 1966, a different era, but was it?

“No, I am writing a report, which is also a plea for the recognition of our common humanity. Without this recognition, our common humanity will be proved in unutterable ways. My report is also based on what I myself know, for I was born in Harlem and raised there. Neither I, nor my family, can be said ever really to have left; we are—perhaps—no longer as totally at the mercy of the cops and the landlords as once we were. In any case, our roots, our friends, our deepest associations are there, and “there” is only about fifteen blocks away.

This means that I also know, in my own flesh, and know, which is worse, in the scars borne by many of those dearest to me, the thunder and fire of the billy club, the paralyzing shock of spittle in the face, and I know what it is to find oneself blinded, on one’s hands and knees, at the bottom of the flight of steps down which one has just been hurled. I know something else: these young men have been in jail for two years now. [he was discussing the Harlem Six- young men jailed at the time.] Even if the attempts being put forth to free them should succeed, what has happened to them in these two years? People are destroyed very easily. Where is the civilization and where, indeed, is the morality which can afford to destroy so many?”

You can read the entire article here:

Another quote dealt with Black police officers and the Black Community; I wonder if this still holds today?

“Black policemen were another matter. We used to say-if you must call a policeman-for we hardly ever did-try to make sure it is a White one. A Black policeman could completely demolish you. He knew far more about you than a white policeman could and you were without defenses before this Black brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seemed to be his hope to offer proof that although he was Black, he was not Black like you.”

He also said:” It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

But, if one goes back to the earlier paragraph, Baldwin discusses allowing and viewing others with basic humanity. This is what the officers denied to Tyre. They did not accept him as a person to be respected but, rather, as someone to be subjugated to the group concept of ‘one who must be controlled’. Once that mentality was in place, they seemed to no longer respect his humanity. Social scientists have said that men in groups act differently than they might act alone. So, while groups can give each other courage to act positively, groups can also act with mob-like behaviors.

Several who viewed the video mentioned above likened it to a Rodney King moment; that incident in the 90’s when Los Angeles police severely beat a Black motorist they had stopped after a chase. A civilian captured the incident on his video camera and an uproar ensued after it was shown that the white police officers needlessly beat and stunned the inebriated King. Afterward, several of the officers were tried and acquitted of using unnecessary force. Following their acquittal, Los Angeles saw severe rioting. Later on, they convicted some officers of Federal civil rights violations. Confrontations between police and Black citizens were common at that time, but many people were caught up in King’s plea, “can’t we all get along?” That incident was thirty-some years ago; have we learned anything new?

How many more moments will we have before we can stop killing people for traffic stops? No one has established a rationale for stopping Tyre on his drive; what made the unit stop him? Were they just bored? Why did these officers act this way; maybe we will never know.

Mrs. Wells, Tyre’s mother has called for peaceful demonstrations after the videos were shared and, so far, protests across the nations have been calm. She was invited to be a guest of the President at the upcoming State of The Union address. The President has called again for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act which stalled in Congress previously.

This past Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. Hitler convinced his followers that the Jewish people and others he imprisoned and killed were not worthy of life or the same privileges as his ‘pure or Aryan Germans’; in short, he denied any common humanity with them. Until we can all see each other with a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, and common bonds of humanity, we will fail as a nation and a world.

“Til next week, Peace and compassion to all.

It was Quite a Week!

This was a week to celebrate, commemorate and consider.

In Maryland, we celebrated the inauguration of the first Black Governor in the state's history-Democrat Wes Moore. (There have been two Black Lieutenant Governors, both Republicans and three black candidates for governor over recent years. Michael Steele ran on the Republican side and Anthony Brown and Ben Jealous ran for the Democrats, but none were successful.) In his victory, Moore becomes the third elected Black governor in US history. Virginia elected Democrat Doug Wilder decades ago. Deval Patrick, a Republican, recently stepped down from his post in Massachusetts.

Moore's choice of Aruna Miller as Lieutenant Governor marks her as the first immigrant in that office; Miller, an engineer, and former delegate immigrated from India as a child.

Brooke Lierman, in the office of Comptroller, is the first woman ever elected to serve in that position while former Congressman Anthony Brown is the first Black Attorney General in MD.

Moore campaigned on leaving no one behind in Maryland and echoed those words in his inaugural speech. He wants to have a state that works for all of its people, not just a few. The public expects him to look acutely at poverty in the state and issues involving criminal justice reform. Maryland has had several high-profile cases recently where prisoners have been released after years of wrongly being incarcerated. In one of his first acts as Governor, Moore released millions of dollars allocated by the legislature for creating a structure for the business of marijuana dispensaries and funding education for additional providers for abortion services, that former Governor Hogan would not release early. The funds covered other legislation as well.

According to Pew Research, Maryland is eighth in the number of states with significant populations of eligible Black voters.

“As of 2020, eight states are home to about half of all Black eligible voters in the United States. Texas has the largest number, with 2.7 million, followed by Georgia and Florida (each 2.5 million). Rounding out the top eight are New York (2.3 million), California (2.0 million), North Carolina (1.8 million), and Maryland and Illinois (1.4 million each). Together, these states account for 52% of Black eligible voters in the 50 states and D.C.”

And, according to the Washington Post, Black voters turned out in high numbers to elect Wes Moore, who got 53% of the white voters in pre-election polls, and 80% of the black votes in the same polls. Moore won with a margin of 64% of the total vote, beating his ultra-conservative opponent by over 30 points.

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This week also saw Americans remembering the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the anniversary of his birth and the holiday that commemorates it. Across the nation, people engaged in service projects for their communities in his honor. President Biden spoke at church services in Atlanta at Dr. King's church, Ebenezer Baptist, where Senator Warnock now preaches. He mentioned the voting rights legislation that John Lewis had supported before his death. I doubt that anything will be done in Congress to pass meaningful legislation. I believe that was a big failing of Senator Schumer and President Biden, that they did not get these voting protection bills passed. According to CNN, polls have shown that Black voter participation was lower in the midterms. Was it because of voter suppression, apathy, or poor candidates in some races; I do not know. I believe Georgia was an exception to this statistic as Black voters showed up for the general election and the run-off. If the President runs again in 2024, he will need Black voters, especially in urban areas to show up at the polls and be surrogates for his campaign.

Interesting note: After two run-offs in which the Democrats won, Governor Kemp in Georgia has proposed doing away with the requirement for a run-off if no candidate gets less than 50% of the vote. They originally established the law to suppress the Black voter turnout.

Another interesting note: In Mississippi and Alabama, they know the holiday as King-Lee Day as the day jointly celebrates Confederate General Robert E Lee along with Dr. King. Hey guys, you lost the war! Get over it!

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Issues to consider: In an interesting article in The New York Times, environmentalist and director of The Third Act, Bill McKibben writes he believes that older Americans who usually vote Republican are switching away from Republicans, such as Florida's Villages! He contends that:

"But in the 63 most competitive congressional districts, the places where big money was spent on ads and where the margin in the House was decided, polling by AARP, an advocacy group for people over 50, found some fascinating numbers. In early summer, Republicans had a sturdy lead among older voters in 50 of those districts, up 50 percent to 40 percent. Those had Republicans salivating. But on Election Day, voters over 65 actually broke for Democrats in those districts, 49 to 46."

He believes the issues such as climate change and environmental concerns, as well as the Dobbs decision, were major reasons voters changed their minds. Exit polls showed that for women over 50, the Dobbs decision influenced their vote to choose a Democrat 2 to 1..  Of course, the Republican demands by Senator Scott of Florida to weaken or reauthorize Medicare and Social Security every five years were also major concerns. Medicare and Social Security have been described as the third rail of politics, the place where it is suicidal to go, but some millionaires in the Senate such as Scott and Ron Johnson do not seem to care. McKibben notes that for 40% of all retirees, Social Security is all they have for income. Another significant measure mentioned by older voters was the threat to democracy they perceived.

He concludes by noting that ten thousand Americans turn 60 every day and that today's older voters are not your parents' grandparents!

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On that note, this week also saw the 50^th anniversary of the Supreme Court's original decision on Roe. For many, that used to be a day to celebrate, no longer. Washington DC has long seen those opposed to the Roe decision come to DC every January to march against this decision. Area Catholic and other religious schools have bused students in to march in what they call pro-life demonstrations. This year they were still here but, sadly, were celebrating. There were small counter-demonstrations here, but larger ones across the country where marchers supported Roe. The pro-life demonstrators were calling for a nationwide abortion ban, while their opponents were marching to codify Roe options in state constitutions where abortion is still legal since an attempt to do so at the Federal level last year failed.

I do not understand why the same people who want to prohibit choice in pregnancies are also the ones who do not support Medicaid funding or Snap funds or daycare options for working mothers. According to the 19^th a news site, legislators in Oklahoma are planning to introduce felony penalties against pregnant women who take abortion pills; although some claim that the law will just target providers. A similar law proposed in Louisiana did not pass. Just today, President Biden loosened restrictions on medication abortions and made the medication (Mifepristone) available without an in-person physician visit. Misoprostol is the second medication and like Mifepristone can now be dispensed by pharmacies with valid prescriptions, instead of only in clinics. (The two medications are taken in sequence days apart.) States, where abortions are banned, are currently trying to work around mail-order prescription availability. Some have even tried to determine who was ordering the medications and make that illegal. Kaiser Family Foundation discusses the issues here.

Meanwhile, horror stories continue as providers are afraid to treat women with tubal or ectopic pregnancies or care for those having first-trimester miscarriages in states such as Texas with strict bans. Did none of these legislators ever have a spouse who had a miscarriage? Do they not understand these are not unusual occurrences? They occur in one out of every three pregnancies or, according to NIH, about 26% of all pregnancies before 20 weeks, with most occurring in the first trimester. The medical terms "spontaneous abortion" and "miscarriage" are used interchangeably. Legislators who either do not care to understand pregnancy, do not know what causes pregnancies, or have never been pregnant should not try to legislate areas where they know little. And women who know better should act better.

‘Til next week-Peace!

Send in the Clowns!

Every circus needs clowns, isn’t that correct?

Now I am not inviting the ghost of Emmett Kelly or the spirit of Ronald MacDonald to visit the House floor, but that sorry bunch of House Republicans showed us this week that they do not understand how to govern. If one looks at the bills submitted this first week alone, one would get an idea that their platform is more social engineering than real policy. Their plan remains to help the rich get richer and to let the middle class fend for itself, and to forget the poor. I saw a lot of bobbing and weaving, ducking and covering, posturing and mumbling happening, but no legislative initiatives for the people they were elected to serve.

You can find here a recent summary of all bills introduced so far in this first week of the new Congress here:

Oh, sure, they passed a bill providing criminal charges for any provider who allows an aborted fetus that was alive, to die, but that is already the law. Of course, they knew it as the “Born Alive Act”.

They introduced another bill that banned insurance coverage or state Medicaid payments for abortions. The ban on Medicaid coverage had been in effect for a long time. It even already prohibited states from using their own money for this purpose in specific circumstances. Services vary from state to state.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:

It depends on where you live. Because federal law only allows the use of federal funds for abortion in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment of the pregnant person, in most states, Medicaid coverage for abortion is limited to these circumstances.  Many of these states have banned abortion and it may be difficult to locate a provider to obtain an abortion even in cases of rape and incest. 

Maryland law allows for some Medicaid funding, but it is income based.

Yet, a third banned the Federal Government from prohibiting the use of gas stoves. (This was apparently based on rumors after Governors in New York and California mentioned phasing out the use of gas stoves in coming decades.) The uproar, that this is happening now, fanned by Fox News, of course, was untrue. Some states were planning a gradual phase-out by partially disallowing new hookups in future years. (I have never understood why an earthquake-prone state such as California allowed home use of gas lines.) President Biden even denied that his administration was even considering this at a press opportunity recently.

We can see some of the upcoming administrative changes in the rules rescinding some powers of the former bi-partisan Ethics review committee that would make referrals to the House Ethics Committee. The January 6^th committee referred several members of the current House leadership (McCarthy and Jim Jordan were two who ignored the committee subpoenas) to the full Ethics Committee of the previous Congress, but this leadership will probably ignore those referrals.

There is now talk from McCarthy and others that they are out for revenge. After first saying that he would allow Democrats to select their committee members, McCarthy now says he will strip the Select House Committee on Intelligence of two long-term members,. Both Congressmen from California who served on the impeachment committees for the former president, Adam Schiff, and Eric Swalwell, were mentioned. And, in payback for the Democrats taking committee assignments away from Marjorie Taylor Greene for her offensive behavior, he plans to remove Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from her committee seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Does anyone know if these steps result from promises McCarthy made in his play for the post of Speaker? No, we, the general public, do not know and probably won’t get to know just how much of his authority was bartered away in his power quest. So, who is actually running this session of Congress? Is it Matt Gaetz who is now roostering his way onto the airways? Or perhaps Marjorie Taylor Greene, who went from opposing McCarthy to being a huge booster for his speakership? What role was she promised, aside from a return to having committee assignments? Will Qanon advocates now be running the place? Does anyone know just what the new rules for Congress are? As I noted earlier, only one week in, and already it is a three-ring circus.

There are bills, of course, to reduce taxes and defund the FBI and IRS. Republicans claim that both Federal agencies are out to get ordinary Americans. Erroneously they state that the additional employees at the IRS are going after the average Joe and will audit his taxes when what the employees are needed for is to upgrade the departments, deal with the backlog of returns, answer the phones, and yes, go after the top 1% who evade taxes year after year because the IRS doesn’t have enough staff to chase them down. They accuse the Department of Justice of weaponizing the FBI such as in its actions at Mar-a-Lago, and will try to defund certain aspects of that agency. Some members promise to target specific employees and negate their salaries.

Now, we all know that most of these wild schemes will go nowhere in a Democratic Senate and that a lot of rhetoric is being tossed around for the Republican base. Even so, all of this further serves to divide Americans and make finding common ground more difficult. The New York Times carried a recent discussion between two of its conservative columnists today, (David Brooks and Bret Stephens), where they discussed why they cannot support this current Republican Party. It provides some very good perspectives on how America got to this point. They point to the actions of Newt Gingrich, CPAC members, and Pat Buchanan as some people who started the demise of the party as they once knew it.

Bret says: What’s different this time is that populist feelings were never harnessed to pragmatic policies. As you say, it’s just populism in the service of nihilism.

As Brooks puts it: “then the congressional Republicans began to oppose almost every positive federal good, even George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism. Trump brought the three horsemen of the apocalypse — immorality, dishonesty, and bigotry.”

While both saw some good in the populist movement, they both also decried the Republican move toward authoritarianism and could not support that.

Of course, the Santos problem will not go away, it just gets murkier and murkier. The public does not know if anything he said is true. Generally, no one is sure of his name, his job, his education, or even his address. The campaign finance report he submitted where he loaned himself $700,000 is thought to have major errors in the required reporting, which is against the law. Some have questioned whether it was money laundering or came from a donor PAC to shield major Republican donors who had maxed out their party contributions. That, also, could be illegal. Hopefully, someone somewhere is investigating these issues. I don’t see how he might bully his way through these messes and stay for his full two-year term. Time will tell. McCarthy will not consider kicking him out unless he is criminally charged; he needs his vote to stay in his position.

The debt ceiling is a topic for another night.

I guess I can’t leave without mentioning the Biden classified documents issues. I think it is a shame that this happened. Biden claims that the document removal was an error by his staff when his materials were being packed up or stored, at either his home or former office, so I'm pretty sure that's probably what happened. These concerns are not parallel at all to the incident of the Mar-a-Lago documents. DJT refused for months and months to turn over a significant number of vital and classified documents, while Biden’s papers were few and were turned over to the Archives when found. They were not important enough to even have been missed by the department. I do not believe that this issue is a major concern or threatens national security as many of the papers are several years old or date from the Obama administration. Consequently, I do not believe that this issue needed a special prosecutor, even if the man chosen is upright and impartial. AG Garland probably thought that since there was a special prosecutor for DJT, he could not avoid one for Biden. I disagree, but he probably did this to reduce Republican criticism. These two cases are as different as apples and elephants. As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say; I know Democrats do not want SP Hur to turn into Ken Starr, which is what they fear unless his powers are limited somehow.

A few words of congratulations for the new and returning legislators who took their seats in Maryland last week. I wish them an interesting and productive session. Our new governor and his administration take office this week. Governor-elect Wes Moore has chosen a diverse cabinet and staff and has an ambitious agenda. I hope that they all succeed in these new roles and with their new ideas. I thank Governor Hogan for his eight years of service; I shall not miss him.

“Til next week-Peace!

Kevin’s Really Bad Terrible Week!

 

Did you watch the spectacle in the US House this week? Did you see our democracy at its’ lowest as power plays weighed in over principles? What picture did this send to the world?

I watched a man vying for one of the most powerful positions in Washington so tied up with the idea that only he should have this post that he surrendered the governance of our country to a group of about twenty renegade elected officials. He appeared to give in time after time to concessions demanded by members of his own party. These concessions were not about policies as much as they were about power. He even agreed to allow the body to demand a vote on vacating his position should a single member request it. He supposedly gave in and allotted several positions on the rules committee-the committee that governs what issues can reach the floor to the recalcitrant factions' members.

I think that he should have realized that these members were not with him early on and that for the betterment of the institution, he should have bowed out and found someone who could be acceptable to the members. Once he started giving in to this and that, he weakened his position and lost respect. His party also showed itself to be in chaos since it could not come up with a consensus candidate. The press quoted McCarthy as saying at one point he earned this position after faithfully standing as minority leader for several years. But it should not have been about him; he was passed over previously when his party could not agree on him for the leadership role.

Most conservatives consider him a fund-raiser, not an ideologue. Many of his members had far-right policies, but he did not, even though he was conservative. He vacillated on his comments about DJT and the MAGA World staging the January sixth coup attempt, initially condemning, then eventually reneging on those comments. He famously went to Mar-a-Lago two weeks after January sixth, where he was photographed with the disgraced former president. He was not strong enough to stand up for what he knew was right. DJT was active on the phone that night trying to drum up support for McCarthy. I think that this was probably being done more to make himself seem relevant considering ever-decreasing poll numbers, rather than fervor for McCarthy.

Commentators have variously described members of this opposition group as ultra-conservatives or obstructionists who don’t believe in government but are nihilists who want to tear the place down. Most of them voted to not certify the election of 2020 in the aftermath of the January 6^th insurrection. Matt Gaetz, a Congressman from Florida, previously was accused of questionable personal behavior, Paul Gosar was reprimanded for videos threatening Congressional representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Representatives Bobert and Harris were faulted for trying to bring firearms onto the House floor and Marjorie Taylor-Greene lost her committee assignments for behavior considered unacceptable in the House in the previous Congress and for her Q-Anon, anti-Semitic and white supremacists affiliations. Gosar is now threatening to release information about Greene and supposed sexual improprieties since she changed her support and voted for McCarthy.

Gaetz basked in the role of troublemaker, first casting his vote for others, then for the former president, and then finally voting ‘present’ to keep his never-Kevin credentials intact. Bobert also voted present, as did a few others. Gaetz was supposedly demanding a seat on the Armed Services Committee and the Rules Committee, but one never knows what really happened.

These are just a few of those in this group; Greene, however, is now supporting McCarthy because she won some promises from him, some say in her quest to impeach President Biden. But, since McCarthy has now agreed to remove the magnetometers from the entrances to the House floor, perhaps Bobert and Harris can again feel safe and carry their firearms onto the floor of the House. Of course, many of their associates may no longer feel safe, but whatever!

The Republican Representatives eventually elected Kevin McCarthy on the 15^th ballot, as voting took over four days before he reached the threshold of about 216 or so votes. The spectacle and the obvious ‘horse-trading’ going on were visible to all since the C-SPAN cameras were not controlled by leadership, since no leadership had yet been appointed. The newly elected representatives, some of whom brought their families to Washington to see their swearing-in, could not be sworn in. Baby bottles and strollers occupied the House floor, along with spouses and parents who would spend days waiting for a Speaker to be chosen. Some visitors had to return home because of other responsibilities. One Congressman complained that the men’s room had no changing tables for babies. What an eye-opening fact! There was no Congressional action since no Congress had been formed.

Meanwhile, on vote after vote, the Democrats consistently voted for Hakeem Jeffries, who received 212 votes, the totality of their caucus. Hakeem and his leadership team of Pete Aguilar of California and Katherine Clark of Massachusetts kept their caucus present and together on vote after vote.

Once McCarthy was finally selected, after midnight on Friday evening, Jeffries stood up to give his welcoming speech. As said by Heather Cox Richardson, it was a barn burner ! He reiterated Democratic principles and vowed to keep those front and center. He said he would cooperate where he could, but would not concede on core beliefs. Below are some comments from his speech:
“As Democrats,” he said, “we do believe in a country for everyone…. We believe in a country with liberty and justice for all, equal protection under the law, free and fair elections, and yes, we believe in a country with the peaceful transfer of power.
“We believe that in America our diversity is a strength—it is not a weakness—an economic strength, a competitive strength, a cultural strength…. We are a gorgeous mosaic of people from throughout the world. As John Lewis would sometimes remind us on this floor, we may have come over on different ships but we’re all in the same boat now. We are white. We are Black. We are Latino. We are Asian. We are Native American.
“We are Christian. We are Jewish. We are Muslim. We are Hindu. We are religious. We are secular. We are gay. We are straight. We are young. We are older. We are women. We are men. We are citizens. We are dreamers.
“Out of many, we are one. That’s what makes America a great country, and no matter what kind of haters are trying to divide us, we’re not going to let anyone take that away from us, not now, not ever. This is the United States of America….
“So on this first day, let us commit to the American dream, a dream that promises that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family, educate your children, purchase a home, and one day retire with grace and dignity.”
In this moment of transition, he said, the American people want to know what direction the Congress will choose. The Democrats offer their hand to Republicans to find common ground, Jeffries said, but “we will never compromise our principles. House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy…benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues, economic opportunity over extremism, freedom over fascism, governing over gaslighting, hopefulness over hatred, inclusion over isolation, justice over judicial overreach, knowledge over kangaroo courts, liberty over limitation, maturity over Mar-a-Lago, normalcy over negativity, opportunity over obstruction, people over politics, quality of life issues over QAnon, reason over racism, substance over slander, triumph over tyranny, understanding over ugliness, voting rights over voter suppression, working families over the well-connected, xenial over xenophobia, ‘yes, we can’ over ‘you can’t do it,’ and zealous representation over zero-sum confrontation. We will always do the right thing by the American people.”

These are words I can applaud; I believe you should do so as well. I think being a minority leader for the next two years will be an unenviable position, especially since the opposition seems to have no thoughts of making America better. McCarthy gave an acceptance speech, as well. In contrast to Jeffries, his was not uplifting. Especially since his party promised to interfere with investigations, threatened to defund the FBI and IRS, and promised investigations about the COVID virus and of civil servants such as Dr. Fauci. His party promised investigations of President Biden’s son Hunter, who has no governmental role, and impeachments of the President (for no particular reason, I guess) and his Homeland Security Secretary over immigration. They promise an investigation over the withdrawal from Afghanistan even though the date had been set and contracted by Biden’s predecessor.

There were few mentions in McCarthy’s speech about what Congress might do to strengthen our country, and make our citizens healthier and our children better educated. He said nothing about resolving our differences as a genuine leader should do; he spoke only to the party base. There were questions about continued funding for Ukraine; indeed, many Republicans supported Putin previously, along with other autocrats such as Orban of Hungary. He thanked the former president for his support.

McCarthy is a leader in name only, a hollow man who stands for nothing and can count on no one. The minority factions have silenced the two hundred members who stood with him over multiple ballots. Where is the discipline of a strong caucus? Over the next two years, I don't think there will be much substance from the House, but I hope we can keep our narrow majority in the Senate and forestall the worst of what the House may send over as bills. I am thankful that the lame-duck Congress passed the budget. When raising the debt ceiling next comes due, I worry about what might happen. We shall see,

There is now a fight to choose a new Republican Party leader even though Ronna Romney McDaniel has given in to the MAGA faction time after time, there is a MAGA challenger for her office.

As this is being written, supporters of former Brazilian leader Bolsonaro, who was defeated in a recent election, stormed the government buildings in Brazil’s capital. Hundreds have been arrested, and officials dispersed many others. Bolsonaro, an autocrat, was also favored by the former president and was said to have been advised by Steve Bannon and others to not accept the results of the election which he lost on a run-off. He is now in Florida, supposedly for a visit.

‘Til next week-Peace!

Greetings for 2023!

Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet?

Numbers guru Harry Enten, speaking on CNN this week, noted that about 40% of Americans will make resolutions for a new year; about 18% will keep them in an ongoing manner. Changing the year brings to mind a time for renewal, a restarting, bringing up a clean slate. Unfortunately, there are still many issues that remain from the old year that require addressing. There are also resolutions that I would love to see some people in public life make for themselves. Certainly, I would like to see a resolution where truth-tellers are rewarded by society for doing the hard things.

The January 6^th Committee has released its report and included transcripts of interviews from many witnesses who gave testimony not presented in the televised hearings. These ranged from the former president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a former presidential advisor, who according to staff, demonstrated a remarkable lack of memory for events at the White House, to other associates who claimed the fifth to avoid giving testimony. Some of these reticent speakers included Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, John Eastman, Roger Clark, and former Secret Service agent, and later presidential aide, Tony Ornato. Ornato's testimony was contradicted, according to committee records by multiple White House staff, including Cassidy Hutchinson. Ornato did not validate the testimony from others about early warnings of potential armed members of the crowd. Ornato, who also appeared to have a selective recall, did not remember the discussions about the reported altercation in the presidential motorcade, despite testimony from others to the contrary. Before his last testimony, he retired from the Secret Service.

The transcripts also described the pressure levied against many staffers as they prepared to give testimony before the committee. Some attorneys counseled the personnel to say 'I don't recall' or 'I can't remember' when questioned about events that might put the administration in a bad light. Cassidy Hutchinson and others mentioned calls from their former bosses to remain loyal to the team. Hutchinson had a lawyer from the MAGA team who told her that DJT was reading the transcripts and would know who was loyal. The attorney, who has since stepped down from his current law firm, claims that he did nothing illegal in his advice to her. These actions certainly sound like witness intimidation and intentional obfuscation to me.

To me, some of the saddest remarks also came as 26-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson reported that she, who was out of work after the administration turned over, scrambled around trying to find an attorney on her own and was quoted a retainer of $130,000 by one firm. She tried to borrow money from her friends and relatives unsuccessfully because she dreaded being represented by the MAGA world. In her testimony, the attorney who presented himself to her never said who was paying him, and hinted that being loyal would help her find a job. When she finally felt he was preventing her from being truthful and she started looking for another attorney, the job offers disappeared. She is currently being represented by an attorney who is offering his services without a fee. Isn't it somehow wrong that testimony before a committee can place the person trying to do their civic duty in financial jeopardy?

Some Republicans chastised the January 6th Committee for using TV producers to create the videos and scripts used during the Hearings. These were not the staid hearings where House members pontificate for four of their allotted five minutes and then ask a self-serving question that does not illuminate the topic at hand. No, they tightly scripted these hearings, with each committee member having a discrete responsibility; the Committee Chair Bennie Thompson opened and closed meetings and the Vice-chair Liz Cheney, a Republican, also had opening and closing remarks. Each session had a specific focus and particular representatives that covered this topic. They all presented their remarks by reading from teleprompters, and members had practice sessions on how to use the technology. In short, it was a must-see, made for TV viewing, and not at all boring. TV audiences during the first evening were over 20 million, with more streaming viewers. The testimony and videos were presented so that the average viewer could easily understand the topics and the testimony. By design, most of the witnesses were Republicans. One of the major exceptions was the two Black election workers, a mother and daughter, from Georgia, possibly slandered by Robert Giuliani, who claimed they were using a thumb drive to change election results. They described the subsequent harassment that drove them from their homes and required FBI protection.

Robert Draper and Luke Broadwater did in-depth reporting about these details in an article in the New York Times Magazine. They report that despite all the egos involved; the committee managed to pull together, work through issues and end up with a report that most could agree with completely. Decisions, such as sending subpoenas or referrals to the Justice Department, were made unanimously.

There is more work to be done in this investigation. Some committee members wished that there had been enough time to focus on the militia movement and white supremacist groups. There is some talk that the Senate may take up this area of investigation. The committee was time limited as the creation linked it to this Congressional term. If the Democrats had kept control of the House, then possibly, the investigations could have continued. With the Republicans taking over and threatening to investigate the committee itself, there is no chance.

Sure wish I could compel the Republicans to govern rather than just posture. Wouldn't that be a great resolution for them? To resolve to have a Congress that works for the people?

In my opinion, these last two years have created some major legislation that works for all Americans. President Biden tried to compromise and find unity but was stonewalled in many attempts. Still, he had several significant legislative achievements. According to the New York Times, these were: "a major bipartisan infrastructure deal, a technology bill, a veterans' health bill, a gun safety bill, and a package of new investments in climate and health care."

The electoral count act reform was part of the Omnibus Bill that had just passed. The legislators should have abolished the Electoral College, but that battle will not be easy. Small states like their over-rated power. I wish that voting rights reform and better gun control legislation had passed. I do not expect that either of these will be addressed again until Democrats can control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Doing so is difficult.

CNN also recounted several executive orders that Biden has signed, many of which reversed policies put in place by his predecessor. 

"In his first hours after he was inaugurated, Biden halted funding for the construction of Trump's border wall, reversed his travel ban targeting largely Muslim countries, and embraced progressive policies on the environment and diversity that Trump spent four years blocking. Biden also reversed several of Trump's attempts to withdraw from international agreements, beginning the process of rejoining the Paris climate accord and halting the United States' departure from the World Health Organization. And he imposed a mask mandate in federal buildings, a symbolic break with Trump's handling of the pandemic."

President Biden also should be commended for his handling of the war in Ukraine. His warnings to the Russians, although ignored, gave notice to the world of the Russian intent. He pulled together nations in the UN, the European Union, and NATO to present a unified force against the Russian invasion, impose sanctions, and send arms and other support to keep Ukraine strong.

I hope that Americans, as a country, continue in this resolve supporting aid and weapons as necessary to Ukraine. Perhaps a resolution to stand against tyranny and authoritarianism would be good for us all.

Our recent election showed that Americans still believe protecting democracy is important.

As we get ready to see the swearing-in of the new Congress, controversy ranges over the lies and misrepresented resume of a newly elected Republican Congressman from New York City. Apparently, little that he claimed in his bio is actually true. He did not graduate from the college claimed nor did he work for Goldman Sachs; he did not attend a named HS; he is not Jewish, but is Catholic, despite claiming to have had Jewish relatives who perished in the Holocaust. His campaign received hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal loans, despite a vague employment history. Despite these lies, he will be seated because Kevin McCarthy needs every vote he can find. There are still rumors that he does not have enough votes to get a majority and alternates may yet pop up. We shall see.

Maybe a resolution for the next Speaker could be to use Nancy Pelosi as a guide on how to run the House. Her successes have been legion over the many years she served. She kept her caucus in step most of the time; Kevin could learn from this and might not have to give in to the crazies on his side of the aisle so often. If he is not elected, who knows what the leadership might be like?

I did not have time to look at DJT's tax return info; that can wait for another day as we have already waited years for them, and there is no urgency.

“Til next week-Peace!